Chapter 3: Twelve Minutes
Chapter 3: Twelve Minutes
The yacht’s medical officer examined Margaret inside the owner’s cabin.
“She’s been drugged,” Dr. Lena Park said. “Likely a sedative, but I need to test the residue.”
“Can she survive it?” Ethan asked.
“If she only swallowed a small amount, yes.”
“If?”
Dr. Park looked toward the clock.
“We’ll know in twelve minutes.”
Ethan stood beside the bed, holding his mother’s hand.
Outside the cabin, Victoria paced under guard.
She had recovered quickly after her mistake.
She now insisted everyone had misunderstood her words.
“I said she wasn’t supposed to drink from a damaged cup,” Victoria repeated. “That’s all.”
Ethan stepped into the hallway.
“Who prepared the drink?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who ordered Leo and Mason onto my yacht?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why did my mother say you wanted her shares?”
Victoria folded her arms.
“She’s confused.”
“She knew your name.”
“She hates me.”
Ethan studied the woman he had married six months earlier.
Victoria had entered his life during the worst year of his existence. His father had died. The company had nearly collapsed. Victoria had been warm, patient, and endlessly supportive.
Now he wondered whether any of it had been real.
Captain Hayes approached.
“We found the transfer documents.”
He handed Ethan a folder recovered from Victoria’s private cabin.
Inside were forms transferring Margaret’s shares to a holding company called Northstar Capital.
Margaret’s signature appeared at the bottom.
Ethan stared at it.
“That isn’t her signature.”
“There’s more,” Captain Hayes said.
The documents included a medical declaration claiming Margaret suffered from severe dementia and lacked the ability to manage her finances.
The declaration was signed by Dr. Adrian Vale.
Ethan knew the name.
Vale was Victoria’s uncle.
Victoria looked at the papers and smiled bitterly.
“You’ve already decided I’m guilty.”
“You forged my mother’s signature.”
“I protected your company.”
“From whom?”
“From her.”
Victoria pointed toward the bedroom.
“She was planning to sell her shares.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Ask her when she wakes up.”
Before Ethan could respond, Dr. Park emerged.
“She’s stable.”
Ethan exhaled.
“But there’s something else,” the doctor continued. “The bruising on her face is recent. The injuries around her wrists are older.”
“How old?”
“At least ten days.”
Ethan turned toward Victoria.
Margaret had been staying at Ethan and Victoria’s coastal estate for two weeks.
The realization struck him like a blade.
This had not begun on the yacht.
His mother had been suffering inside his own home.
Dr. Park handed him a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a tiny silver object.
“I found this tangled in her hair.”
May you like
It was a miniature recording device.
Victoria stopped smiling.
